Bryn Hall of the Crusaders celebrates with his teammates after scoring a try. Photo / Getty
Bryn Hall of the Crusaders celebrates with his teammates after scoring a try. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
It rocked a bit earlier in the year, even looked a little fragile at times, but the Crusaders dynasty steadied itself at Eden Park with a performance that marked them as the greatest team in Super Rugby history.
The hard truth for Aucklanders to stomach is that while theyhave a good team in their midst, one perhaps on its way to greatness, Canterbury has something quite miraculous in its grasp.
They have a Crusaders team who seem to understand their destiny is to win. For the last six years they have faced all that everyone else in Super Rugby has been able to throw at them and they absorb it all, let the blows glance off them and somehow find a way to win and win and win again.
Their ability to ride the blows, to stay in the fight and then somehow find another gear in the run home is a rare quality and while the players deserve their share of the plaudits in building such resilience, it's the coaching staff who are the masterminds of this team.
Head coach Scott Robertson clearly has a gift. No one can argue with his record which is played six, won six if we are happy to ignore the lightweight transtasman bolt-on competition of last year.
He knows how to plan a campaign, to lift his men when they are down and to mastermind the on-field strategic ploys which makes his team so difficult to break down.
The Crusaders were so assured, so confident in themselves and their prospects, that they stopped the epic final everyone forecast from ever taking place.
They went after the Blues lineout and destroyed it. It was, at times, farcical to see the home side reduced to such calamitous, comedic bumbling and fumbling on the touchline where they became so desperate to win their own ball that their only option was to hurl it to the midfield.
Maybe there was an element of self-destruction in that, but the brilliant Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett got into the Blues' heads and seemed to know precisely where the ball was going.
And this is what the Crusaders are all about – smart plays that come from smart planning and a depth of character to shrug off what may have gone before.
If they are down, as they were earlier this year, it never lasts for long. When they suffered home defeats to the Chiefs and Blues and then an away loss to the Waratahs, there were plenty saying that the magic had faded.
The dynasty was creaking, or maybe it was even broken because even in victory, the Crusaders never looked as polished and clinical as they have in the past.
But maybe there is no better way to dispel doubt and reinforce greatness than by coming alive in the knockout rounds. After all, what does the round-robin matter, other than to secure a place in the last eight?
Bryn Hall of the Crusaders celebrates with his teammates after scoring a try. Photo / Getty
Cruising in on the back of one loss to top the standings as the Blues did or faltering a little as the Crusaders did to finish second, ends up being a footnote in history.
They came to life when they needed to, no two players looking more alive in the last two weeks than Richie Mo'unga and David Havili.
The final was billed as a battle of the 10s and while he was helped by the fantastically good grunt work of his pack, Mo'unga's calm, poise and unfailingly astute judgement was a significant factor in landing the Crusaders their sixth consecutive title.
Super Rugby has had some star power drift through it over the decades, but Mo'unga may in fact have built the greatest legend of all. He's got six titles and in each, he can lay claim to being instrumental: the figurehead on whom each title was built.
He had more influence than Beauden Barrett possibly because he had more ball and certainly because the possession he did receive was on the front foot, unlike his opposite who was scurrying behind a pack that couldn't quite hold its own.
It was Mo'unga's and the Crusaders' night because it seems it will always be so.
